1. Not a fan of people who complain that Chris Moneymaker got lucky. Every WSOP winner not named Stu Ungar was lucky. That's the way it is in poker. You have to win all the coin-flips and get a lucky two-outer to be champion.

2.Sad to hear that winning the WSOP and becoming a poker pro basically cost Moneymaker his marriage. That's tough.

3. This would have made a great 30 for 30 except ESPN already owns the rights and I'm guessing the poker folks probably wouldn't want to share with Bill Simmons 30 for 30 folks.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Cliff Lee has a no-trade clause that lists 21 teams. If I'm an MLB GM - I'm calling the Phillies to see if I'm one of the 9 teams not on the list. I'm calling first thing... Heh heh - it's funny because its true... If you only had to pay for the cable channels you wanted or watched - how many people would still have MTV or MSNBC? Nobody forces you to buy cable but if you want cable then you are forced to buy channels you don't want. Doesn't seem right does it?... If I were in charge of the Big Ben clock in London - I'd have it strike 11 times at 10 o'clock every once in a while just to mess with the heads of some conspiracy theorists... Great headline!... In the tomato drink V8 - is one of the 8 ingredients ass? Sure tastes like ass to me... If Australians are from "down under" - does that mean Americans are from "up over"?... Remember when Democrats like Harry Truman insisted that the buck stopped with them and didn't blame some low level employees? Or the media? Or the previous administration?...

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Derek Lowe was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers and his big league career may be over. And what a unique career it has been. Lowe once led the league in saves - something Jonathan Papelbon never managed to do. Lowe had as many 20-win seasons as Mike Mussina - but whereas Mussina was nicknamed Moose - it was Lowe who really shouldered the load and who led his league in games started 4 times (Mussina managed the trick just twice).

The Red Sox do not win the 2004 World Series without Lowe's pitching heroics. But it is Curt Schilling and David Ortiz who still get all the kudos. For his part in the 2004 Championship - Lowe was shown the door and allowed to sign with the Dodgers as a free agent.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying Lowe and his career 4.03 ERA is a Hall of Famer. It is also hard to feel bad for a man who spent all or part of 17 seasons in "the show" while raking in more than $110 million in salary. It's just that Lowe seems a decent guy and has been so enigmatic that the passing of his big league career seemed worthy of note.

- Col. Chris Hadfield singing Space Oddity is awesome. Part of me is bothered by the idea that NASA now is best known for singing astronauts and not for the sort of great goals and accomplishments that made them famous in the past. We don't even have a space shuttle any more.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Two very interesting pairings this past weekend. You had the Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain story and then Tiger Woods vs Sergio Garcia story-line at TPC Sawgrass. In both cases the younger player came off as bit of an ass... "Give us just the audio feed from Erin Andrews" said no TV producer ever... I read the subtext to this Dan Shaughnessy rebuttle by Red Sox part-owner Tom Werner as "I gave your daughter a job in Hollywood you ungrateful jerk"... God bless the Richard family. I cannot image the pain and grief they must shoulder every day... I still say that Tim Tebow would be a useful back-up to the Patriots. Tom Brady likes those one-yard goal-line plunges too much. He's getting older and there's no reason to risk him in those situations when you could have a guy like Tebow... Part of me thinks the Westboro Baptist Church is just some real elaborate hoax being pulled off by an not-dead Andy Kaufman... Playing off the success of ChristianMingle.com - I'd like to start a site ChristianDivorce.com. Jesus want you to separate!...

Sunday, May 12, 2013

I have read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby a few times. The first time was for an English class. The next two times because Ernest Hemingway spoke so highly of the book I was sure I was missing something. Each time reading the book felt like a chore to be finished.

For books about the same period in time - give me John Steinbeck's Cannery Row or Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (even though this book wasn't actually published till 1964 - three years after Hemingway's suicide).

I've decided that I'm not going to believe in ghosts. Why? Well the reason is pretty simple.

Every kid is taught that ghosts say "boo!" Who decided this? It's become unanimous. According to our culture and accepted norms - ghosts say "boo". But why would your spirit in death be saying something you never said in life? When was the last time you said "boo"? Were you impersonating a ghost?

The only explanation is that nobody has ever spoken with a ghost. And that must be because they don't exist. Logic.

As an aside - I think it would be funny if someone re-cut the movie Ghost so that Patrick Swayze's dialog after he dies is replaced by someone just repeating "boo!" over and over.

It got me thinking about who I would consider the "herpes of sports reporting". Here's my list:

1. Dan Shaughnessy - nobody makes me turn a radio or TV channel faster than Shagnasty. He faded into the woodwork somewhat after the Red Sox ruined his "Curse of the Bambino" cottage industry but recently he made himself as public as a cold sore on a wedding day with his basically accusing David Ortiz of using steroids. It should be recalled that before Ortiz even had a plate appearance for the Red Sox - Shaughnessy called him a "pile of you know what". I think the Curly Haired Boyfriend just has it out for people of color.

2. Skip Bayless - why is he famous? Why does ESPN stick with this douche? Does anyone like him? All serious questions.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

What happened to those three girls in Cleveland is monstrous. I would call it unbelievable except for the fact it really happened. These three girls had their freedom taken away and were basically slaves for a decade.

One thing I think all Americans can agree on is that slavery is wrong and in this day and age - it is inexcusable. Yet our country continues to do business with other nations where slavery is perfectly acceptable. Why isn't there more outrage about this?

Read this article on slavery - then wrap your mind around this quote from the article, "When I want a sex slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her." Now think back to how outraged you felt about those three girls in Cleveland. If those nations who allow slavery were hunting whales instead - there would be all sorts of outrage and demonstrations. Where is the outrage?

Saturday, May 04, 2013

During the 70's I was a kid. But aren't kids the most impressionable? I have to admit that I don't recognize half of the albums on the list. Maybe that's my ignorance but to have a list like this and not have something from Bruce Springsteen when he was at his peak tells me that maybe I'm not the ignorant one. No Bon Scott AC/DC? Highway to Hell is better than 90 percent of the albums on the list.

At number 1 on the list is Low from David Bowie. As I mentioned - I was an impressionable kid in the 70's but this album didn't make an impression on me. The only song I recognize is Sound and Vision - which is an OK song but it is no London Calling.